Overview
- Alinejad, who received the €50,000 European Paulskirchen Prize on Tuesday in Frankfurt, was honored for her fight for women’s rights and democracy at the church that housed Germany’s first parliament in 1848.
- In a forceful speech, she urged Western governments to move from condemnation to action against Iran’s rulers and said killing terrorists is an act of justice rather than a breach of international law.
- She criticized leaders who emphasize legal restraint, singling out President Frank-Walter Steinmeier’s comments and the EU’s slow designation of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist group.
- German Bundestag President Julia Klöckner delivered the laudation, calling Alinejad one of the loudest voices for Iranian women and stressing that Iran’s freedom movement rises from within the society.
- Her trip went ahead despite warnings from US security agencies after a recent alleged attempt on her life, building on earlier threats that included a 2021 US Justice Department disruption of an Iranian-backed kidnapping plot.